At the Finish Line

CINCINNATI —  It was see-and-be-seen time for the Democrat who would be vice president, and if there was anything even approaching a theme to his final breathless day on the campaign trail, it could be captured in a single raucous moment replayed Monday in battlegrounds across America:

Sen. John Edwards strides through the door, flashes his trademark grin, pumps a fist and the room erupts in cheers: “One more day! One more day! One more day! One more day!”

There it was -- at an abbreviated rally in foggy St. Paul, where Edwards invoked Minnesota’s Democratic lions (Hubert H. Humphrey, Paul Wellstone, Walter F. Mondale) in a speech pared to its essence: “Do you want four more years of this or do you want a fresh start for America with President John Kerry?”

At a campaign phone bank in downtown Des Moines, where the North Carolina senator thanked volunteers for their hard work and beseeched them to continue just one more day.

And inside Skyline Chili, a Cincinnati institution, where Edwards’ honeyed “thank yous” mingled with the waitress’ shouted orders.

Edwards is wrapping up the 2004 campaign more en route than entreating, as the need to appear in as many states as possible is eclipsing his ability to say much once he gets there.

His first speech Monday was a brisk 16 minutes, his second barely crested two. By the time he hit Ohio -- his third state of the day with one more to go -- he’d dropped any pretense of oratory. The drill: Shake hands, smile for the cameras, bolt.

“We’re trying to get as many places as we can,” said campaign manager Peter Scher, chatting on the campaign plane between Cincinnati and Pensacola, Fla. “What does he get out of three-minute appearances? Local television.”

He also gets energized volunteers and -- the campaign hopes -- improved turnout among citizens who will brave today’s expected polling place logjams and vote for Edwards and Sen. John F. Kerry.

Edwards had been building toward this day all weekend, logging thousands of air miles, ping-ponging among a small clutch of states, whittling his speech at every event.

At Greater Grant Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday, Edwards invoked President Clinton, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, the Supreme Court decision that desegregated America’s schools and his own humble beginnings -- all in a speech of about 10 minutes -- before heading off.

He went on to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota that day. Then back to Iowa and Ohio on Monday, before finally lighting in Florida for the final push: an airport rally in Pensacola, another event in Pompano Beach with pop star Jimmy Buffett at his side, a couple of hours of sleep in Fort Lauderdale, followed by a full day in the Sunshine State today.

But for all of the energy and optimism, the predictions of victory by smiling staffers and the frantic push through the country’s contested heart, there were also flashes of nostalgia Monday on the campaign trail with the North Carolina senator.

At campaign headquarters in rainy Des Moines, Edwards spoke of his fondness for Iowa, of his visits to each of its 99 counties, of its thoughtful citizens and how much they’d taught him, of the effect they’d have if Kerry made it to the White House.

“So much of what we want to do for the country we learned from people right here in Iowa,” he told the volunteers in a moment of rare introspection. “And you have had an enormous effect on us -- on John, on myself.

“And as a result, you’re going to have an enormous effect on this country,” he promised. “Because one thing that I am sure of, and these are my last words to you today: Tomorrow Iowa’s going to send John Kerry into the White House.”